


The Road to Epona

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 15:47:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7112272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louisa finally enters Epona.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Road to Epona

**Author's Note:**

> It was 2.30am for me when the servers went back up when Epona opened so Louisa explores it at night.

Louisa awoke with a snort as her mobile phone buzzed on her bedside table.

“It’s happening,” she said as she sat up. Well, that was what she would have said, but she was too busy yawning. She put her glasses on, pushing her hair behind her ears, and picked up her phone. She flipped it open and immediately squinted against the harsh light of her phone screen. But the name was there.

Louisa squealed quietly in excitement and got out of bed, walking over to her wardrobe to grab her favourite new item of clothing. The windbreaker would help keep her warm in the predawn air.

Linda had told her that afternoon that Louisa would be going on an adventure very soon. All she had to do was wait for the text from Herman. And now here it was, and she read it again before running across Longbridge to the stable where her horses were kept.

“C’mon, Midnight, let’s go,” she said, easily climbing into her pony’s saddle. The pony pranced, infected with her excitement, and was only too happy to go at full gallop across Longbridge and to the ferry docks.

Louisa entered Herman’s house smiling, shoving her hands in the pockets of her windbreaker for something to do with them.

“This is it, Louisa!” said Herman, clapping his hands in excitement. “I’ve received word from Mrs X. She works against GED in Epona. She wants to meet but first we must make a plan for getting there. And for that, we’ll need tea.”

After sitting down to a nice hot cup of tea with Herman, Louisa was sent out on errands to get things in order. She had to get clothes for Herman, find a code, and find a secret passage into Epona through the mountains. Simple.

“Ooh, gunpowder pepper, eh?” asked Louisa, picking the bright red food in the horse paddock. “Sounds spicy. Do you think Angus will mind if I take some?”

“Well he’s hardly watching you,” said Midnight. “Take some. Just don’t eat it now, he might figure it out.”

“I’ll bring some home for dad,” said Louisa, putting them in her backpack.

And then Louisa found the golden compass and was mesmerised for quite a while by its golden glow. She was equally entranced by Jack’s farting pen, and couldn’t stop giggling.

“You’re a grown woman,” said Midnight with a snort, but her voice was friendly and her laugh echoed in Louisa’s mind.

“So is Jack,” said Louisa, giggling. She put her pen to the last piece of paper and could barely sign it for giggling.

Finally, after answering some very obscure questions for Dorith, Louisa gave Herman the trap warnings and rode with him to the secret pathway through the mountains. It seemed unnecessarily dangerous, but that just made it seem even more like an adventure.

Midnight’s hooves were swift as Louisa escaped from GED, although they didn’t scare her anywhere near as much as those Dark Riders. Especially the first one. Still, Midnight carried her safely to the people she had to see in Stormgarden.

“This place looks so much more different than it did before,” said Louisa when they were free to explore. “I feel kinda bad about sneaking in earlier, though.”

“You snuck in because you didn’t have a girlfriend to entertain you,” said Midnight. “But now Lisa’s there to keep you busy. Especially keeping your hands busy.”

“You’re not allowed to be so lewd,” said Louisa with a gasp.

“Don’t tell Goldie,” said Midnight. “I’m not a foal, I’m just small.”

“I know,” said Louisa. “Anyway, I wanna see what new stuff this place holds.”

Louisa spent the night exploring this new area that was open to her. Midnight told her many times that it was silly to gallop at full speed through a misty swamp at night, but Louisa didn’t listen. And besides, Midnight could slow down at any time.

“Oh wow,” Louisa breathed as they descended into The Cauldron. “It’s blue.” Midnight finally slowed down, not wanting to slip off the edge of the road, and Louisa didn’t even try to make her speed up again. She was utterly entranced by the strange blue mist, especially the darker blue film that seemed to cover it. Hence the name, she supposed.

“Annnd now she’s speechless,” said Midnight as Louisa stared dumbstruck at the swamp-like area at the bottom of The Cauldron.

“It used to be pink,” said Louisa quietly. “And like a beach.”

After staring at the swamp for far too long, Louisa finally rode Midnight out of the swampy area and towards the farm.

“Oh I love the architecture,” she said. She rode Midnight through the old houses, not wanting to dismount. Midnight was small enough to fit comfortably inside the buildings.

“It is nice,” said Midnight. “I’m sure Goldie would like it.”

“So would Linda,” said Louisa. She directed Midnight back to the road, looking for something else she’d found last time she’d been here. Midnight seemed to know where to go, her hooves finally finding a road that didn’t look like a road at first.

“I feel like this place is special,” said Midnight. She ran as fast as she could without crashing into anything, finding it hard to see in the mist.

“Oh my stars,” said Louisa as they finally entered the Guardians’ Dale. Four horse statues flanked a pathway, two on either side. A unicorn, a Pegasus, and two normal horses with spiky manes. One of them also had a beard.

“You can’t see a thing,” said Midnight.

“Maybe not but I can feel it,” said Louisa. “I can’t explain it.” She dismounted and walked over to the statue of a horse with a beard, placing her hand on the cold marble or concrete or whatever it was. “Starshine.” The unicorn was next. “Tin Can?” The other spiky-maned horse she recognised from the mane alone, and putting her hand on the statue only confirmed it. “Meteor.” She smiled. She had a feeling about who the fourth horse was, but she wasn’t sure until she put her hand on the Pegasus statue. “Concorde.”

“Thank the stars Harald closed the gates,” said Midnight. 

“I don’t think GED would’ve managed to get in here anyway,” said Louisa. “This place feels sacred.” She wiped away tears of awe and continued in her inspections, Midnight following at a distance.

“Not sacred enough, apparently,” said Midnight, tossing her head towards the remains of a blown-up horse statue.

“This wasn’t done by normal human means,” said Louisa. “It feels like it was accidentally blown up.” There was some kind of energy around the pedestal on which the statue had once stood. When Louisa touched it with her magic, she was instantly thrown into a vision. Just a short one, though. Short flashes, but it gave Louisa enough hints to know who she had to pry the information out of.

~

Alex, standing in front of the stone staircase with her hands alive with electricity.

Four points on the staircase’s edges flaring with bright white light in response to the power that Alex was wielding.

A purple-hued portal appearing at the top of the stairs for just the blink of an eye. It looked wrong, sparking with electricity.

The portal exploding, sending blasts of energy everywhere.

The statue, being hit by one of the blasts of magic. It didn’t stand a chance.

And then Alex again, looking guiltily at the smoking remains of the statue.

~

“Well,” said Louisa, “that was unexpected. I’ll get the full story out of Alex one day.”

“Did it explain everything, though?” asked Midnight.

“Yes,” said Louisa with a nod. “It explained everything. Well, it didn’t explain what she hoped to accomplish in the first place, but I connected the dots.”

And then Louisa walked towards the staircase, wondering if there would be any evidence of whatever magic Alex had tried to work there.

There weren’t burn marks, but there were symbols. Very familiar symbols. A moon, a star, a sun, and a bolt of lightning. Louisa reached her hand up, but her fingers barely touched the bottom of the star symbol.

“Can you stand on my back?” asked Midnight.

“I was just going to ask your permission to,” said Louisa with a chuckle. “This will be hard.”

Louisa took off Midnight’s saddle and saddle pad, as well as her own boots and socks, then sat on her bareback and pulled her feet up. She steadied herself with the reins, heart pounding. If she got hurt, Lisa was far away. But she managed to get her feet under her to crouch on Midnight’s back. Midnight grunted at the weight but didn’t move.

And then Louisa stood up, her feet curving to fit to Midnight’s back. Her legs shook, and she held her arms out to steady herself. She reached her hand out towards the star symbol, willing herself not to fall. Her hand slapped the space just below the symbol as she almost fell, but then she carefully withdrew her hand and placed it gently on the star symbol.

“At least you’re not kissing it,” said Midnight.

“I’m not kissing some random surface,” said Louisa. “Hey, I wonder what would happen if I tried using my magic on it.”

“Better not,” said Midnight. “It might explode or something.”

“Yeah,” said Louisa. “We should get going anyway. The sun’s rising.”

Louisa rode back to the stables, mind still buzzing with questions and the information she’d learned. She probably wouldn’t be able to sleep.

She fell asleep as soon as she closed her eyes, despite the sun’s light bathing the world anew.


End file.
